Summer Roadtrip (13 days): June 12-24, 2025

One of the girls moved to Omaha earlier this year and had stored some of her furniture/boxes at our house. She was ready for her things, so we loaded up the minivan with everything that fit. Since we were making that drive, we decided to use it as a starting point for a 13-state summer road trip. (Map shows approximate route.)

We split the road trip into four sections:

Days 1-3: 

Phoenix to southern Wisconsin, including a stop in Omaha to visit/complete the move then continue to southern WI to pick up my mom.
(AZ, NM, TX, OK, KS, NE, IA, WI)

Days 4-6: 

Mini road trip with my mom to Michigan's upper peninsula (counter clockwise loop).

(WI, MI)

Days 7-8: 

Spend time with mom and take a break from driving/sightseeing (WI)

Days 9-11:

Road trip to visit South Dakota attractions.

(WI, IA, MN, SD, WY)

Days 12-13:

Return home, with scenic drive through Colorado and stops in New Mexico.

(WY, CO, NM, AZ)

Summer Roadtrip Day 1: Phoenix to Tucumcari NM

The car's all packed, we are gassing up, and are ready to go.

Getting into the pine trees outside of Payson.

We intended to go directly to Holbrook from Payson but rerouted to Winslow to avoid an accident and construction delays. We saw a brewery advertised in Winslow, so that made the decision easier, since we would be there for lunch 

Unfortunatly, this was only a taphouse and they didn't brew any of their own beers.

Just down the alley from the restaurant, I saw these murals.

Just past Holbrook we stopped at a "trading post" to see the world's largest kachina. It was defunct and missing its face, so we didn't bother with a picture of that. We did get these pictures while in the area:

Around Gallup NM, the car started rattling and shaking, so we pulled over to check the tires. We saw these wild horses in the area by the gas station.

On the way towards Albuquerque, the check tires warning came on, we checked the tires, they looked "ok" and we headed onward. Then it happens about 30 miles later. We added a quick stop at Discount Tire, arriving less than 10 minutes before closing.

Three new tires later, and we were back on the road.

We arrived in Tucumcari around 10 pm, and we were tired, so I didn't take pictures of neon signs in town like I planned to do. Here's a picture of part of our room at the Roadrunner Inn.

Summer Roadtrip Day 2: Tucumcari NM to Lincoln NE

This morning we got an early start and began our drive to Nebraska

We pulled over to see the Texas Sheriff man near Dalhart TX.

From there, we passed into OK,

where we saw the first of many oil derricks.

We stopped briefly in Hooker OK for a stretch break and to get a few snacks/water, and then we were back on the road. 

Shortly after entering Liberal KS, we had an unexpected traffic stop/delay. 

It felt like the big bear was laughing at us as we patiently waited for the police officer to finish his work.

Our next stop was to visit Dorothy's Oz house.

From there, we drove to Dodge City to see La Salsa man.

He was just down the street from the brewery where we planned to have lunch. The brewery was closed so we had lunch at the Cowboy Capital, in a historic building.

After lunch, we drove to see the world's largest Czech Egg in Wilson KS.

The town also has smaller Czech eggs by various businesses and attractions, and had a selfie mural.

The next stop was to see the World's Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker City KS.

We also checked out a few things across the road.

Steve spent a lot of time talking to the owner of the ice cream shop across the road, so we were running slightly behind schedule.

After what was supposed to be a quick stop for dinner in Strang NE (it was not quick), we decided to skip seeing the largest uncovered porch swing and drove to Lincoln NE, to spend the night.

Summer Roadtrip Day 3: Lincoln NE to New Glarus WI

Today was a light sightseeing day. We started the day by driving to Omaha to deliver one of the girls' belongings that she was unable to take with her when she moved earlier in the year. After moving boxes into her apartment, we got a tour of her place, then went to brunch with her. We dropped her off at her place around noon, then headed toward Wisconsin. 

We took a rest stop in Adair IA to see the smiling face water tower.

We then drove pretty much straight through IA until we crossed the Mississippi River into WI.

Once in Wisconsin, we stopped at the Dickeyville Grotto and Shrines.

By the time we got to Platteville, we were hungry, so stopped for dinner before heading to my mom's house. 

A few miles out of town, a big raccoon crossed the road in front of us (we did not hit it).

We arrived at mom's house around 7:30 pm and spent the night.

Summer Roadtrip Day 4: New Glarus WI to Munising MI

This morning we added mom to our adventure and headed to Fond du lac to see the lighthouse.

From there, we drove to Oshkosh to see the lighthouse at Asylum Point. As we pulled up, mom and I started laughing because it was much smaller than anticipated. 

From there we decided to have lunch at a brewery in Green Bay but they were only serving cold club sandwiches for lunch that day (the cook was off for Father's Day) and almost everything else downtown was closed. We found a breakfast place that was open, so had breakfast for lunch. 

From there we headed to Michigan's upper peninsula, stopping to take pictures of the giant crane sculpture

and mosquito sculpture (at Rapid River MI)

While standing in the grass next to the highway, a tick found me (which I later felt crawling on my leg and then threw it out the car window). 

From there we went to kitch-iti-kipi (big spring), which was really cool. We enjoyed taking the hand-cranked raft across the spring and looking through the clear water.

We then visited Manistique, where we took a pictures of Paul Bunyan

And saw a big moose statue.

We also had dinner at Flatiron brewery.

On the drive to the motel near Munising, two deer crossed the road in front of us and we saw several more along the side of the road, along with several cranes.

Summer Roadtrip Day 5: Visiting Michigan's Upper Peninsula

We found two more ticks - one on Steve and another one on me when I woke up. Luckily, that was the last of them.

After breakfast, we headed toward Tahquemenon Falls. On the drive there, we saw a sign for Crisp Point Lighthouse, and decided to take the 18 mile dirt road to see it. 

Once there, we were viciously attacked by mosquitoes as we explored the boardwalks at the lighthouse. 

Steve climbed to the top of the lighthouse while mom and I hid from the mosquitoes in the gift shop. On the drive out, we stopped to look at 

Culhane Lake and Bodi Lake.

We also saw quite a few deer 

From there we went to Tahquemenon Falls. We started at the upper falls,

then drove to the less impressive view of the lower falls. 

The mosquitoes were still bad here, but not as bad as at the lighthouse. Steve bought mosquito spray at the lower falls.

We headed back to the upper falls to the brewery for lunch.

As we were leaving the area, two wolves crossed the road in front of us. We also saw a lot of deer and cranes near the road.

On the way to Munising, we stopped and took the path to see Wagner Falls (the mosquitoes were annoying but not too bad).

and then viewed the less impressive Alger falls from the road.

Then we went into Munising and hung out by the lake for about 30 minutes before the Pictured Rocks spray falls cruise. 

The advice to sit on the right side was solid - we got more time/better shots than those on the left got on the return. However, the weather/sun was better on the return.

When the cruise ended, we had a quick dinner (hamburgers) then went back to the motel for the night.